Some people feel that taking to spiritual life means
abandoning all efforts to progress in life. But their feeling stems from an
unexamined assumption: progress means material progress alone. Spiritual life
involves progress too, but of a different kind. In material life, progress
frequently means procuring, possessing and parading what we want – gadgets,
dresses, cars and so forth. But such a conception of progress keeps us
perpetually dissatisfied. Why? Because firstly, the world constantly keeps
coming up with new-looking things; and secondly, today’s aggressive advertising
keeps bringing these things on our sensory pathways. Such glamorization makes
the pursuit of material progress an ever-moving, never-reachable target – a
mirage. Does being progressive necessitate sentencing ourselves to perpetual
dissatisfaction? No, provided we choose an alternative conception of progress.
Spiritual progress centers on appreciating the value of what we have: Krishna,
the Lord of the Goddess of Fortune – the all-attractive supreme being who is
already present in our heart. Krishna is eternally the source of the supreme
satisfaction. And we can relish that satisfaction if we absorb our
consciousness in his remembrance and service. But just as a child infatuated
with a toy may turn its mouth away from a delicacy, we unintelligently turn our
consciousness away from Krishna because of our desires for worldly things. We
can counter such desires by practicing bhakti-yoga, which redirects our heart
towards Krishna. The more we start wanting what we have – the presence of
Krishna, and the opportunity to remember and serve him – the more we relish
sublime spiritual happiness. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.22) states that
the most progressive spiritualists who have perceived the highest spiritual
reality feel that nothing higher remains to be gained. That is, the zenith of
spiritual progress makes them perfectly and perennially satisfied in Krishna.
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